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Born in 1888 as Charles John Holt,[1][2] in Winchester, Virginia and when in Manhattan, attended Trinity School. He was accepted into the Virginia Military Institute in 1909,[3] but expelled for misbehavior. He ended his fleeting pursuit of becoming an attorney-at-law and took on odd jobs while on the road. He triumphantly rode a horse down a steep embankment into the Russian River in a scene for Salomy Jane, included in the DVD released 2011 anthology Treasures 5 The West 1898—1938 by the National Film Preservation Foundation.[1] He does not seem to have registered for World War I. At the start of World War II, Holt enlisted in the United States Army at the age of 54, at the request of General George C. Marshall so that Holt could be a horse buyer for the United States Cavalry.

Holt's dapper mustache, prominent jaw, and quick-with-his-fists manner, personified rugged masculinity. Holt became Columbia Pictures' most reliable leading man, and scored personal successes in three Frank Capra action dramas: Submarine (1928), Flight (1929) and Dirigible (1931). Holt's no-nonsense characterizations were eclipsed by younger, tough-talking actors like James Cagney and Chester Morris, although he continued to work low-budget action features, mostly for Columbia through 1940. It came to an end when he argued with studio chief Harry Cohn who thought the actor so arrogant that he committed him to a secondary role in a 15-chapter serialHolt of the Secret Service (1941) with accompanying publicity to introduce him to that new type of film product audience but he left Columbia for other studios.

Jack Holt has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6313-½ Hollywood Blvd for his contribution to the motion picture industry. Holt was the visual inspiration for Chester Gould's "Dick Tracy" and Al Capp's "Fearless Fosdick."[1]